The Wemstroms: The feral cat debate continues

Monday

Oct 21, 2013 at 3:43 PMOct 21, 2013 at 3:53 PM

We like cats very much. They're intelligent and beautiful. Patty's childhood pet Whiskers can never be replaced in her memory, and Desdemona, whom the kids dubbed "Dezzy," was a treasure to both children and adults.

That having been said, we'll risk entering the Great Feral Cat Debate. It's true that the problem is the fault of humans. That does not mean we should not try to eradicate animals or plants that threaten our well-being. Rats in the U.S. and rabbits in Australia, the emerald ash borer and alien plants that choke out native flora, all were brought by humans.

Feral cats do not belong here. They are alien predators destroying the balance that nature took millions of years to get right. Recent letters in The Journal-Standard have concentrated on the spreading of disease. One "My View" column, defending feral cats, stated that the last case of rabies contracted from a cat was in 1975.

However, because of the rabies vaccine, cases of rabies have declined in the U.S. to two or three cases a year. Most people bitten by animals subsequently submit to rabies shots (40,000 a year) and therefore do not contract the disease. Our son was bitten by a feral cat and took the shots. The cat probably did not have rabies, but they still pose a danger. From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "In 2009, rabies cases among cats increased for the second consecutive year. Three times more rabid cats were reported than rabid dogs."

Alley Cat Allies and alleycat.org are organizations with preconceived agendas, which makes their "research" suspect. Cats can carry other diseases; Johns Hopkins reports "cat scratch disease," and the CDC discusses hookworm and a few others.

But one of the greatest dangers of not only feral cats, but outside domestic cats, is to our native wildlife. A 1994 study of radio-collared farm cats in Wisconsin estimated that each year cats kill at least 19 million songbirds and 140,000 game birds in Wisconsin alone. Have you wondered why you've heard fewer whippoorwills in the woods? Feral and domestic cats are a main cause. In fact, all ground-nesting birds — bobolinks, dickcissels, vesper sparrows and western meadowlarks — have been declining in numbers. A study from the Smithsonian Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that 1.4–3.7 billion birds and billions of small animals are killed by cats annually.

Birds are the major consumers of insects. One yellow-throated warbler consumes 100,000 tree lice in one day. Many insects eaten by birds destroy crops and vegetation. We were dismayed to read an article in The Journal-Standard praising a woman on a farm who owned 21 cats. No one should own 21 cats. Perhaps they were killing mice on her farm, but they were also roaming around, killing birds and other wildlife and competing with owls and other native predators.

None of these problems are the fault of cats. They're just being cats, natural predators. But we might need to choose between allowing 50 million feral cats to roam the U.S. and protecting what's left of our natural ecosystem. Trap-Neuter-Release programs are expensive and ineffective; released cats still kill wildlife, and "colonies" attract other wild animals, increasing the danger of disease.

Cat fanatics, who seem to think "respecting God's creatures" applies only to cats, would never support euthanizing feral cats. But something must be done. House cats should be kept inside; it's safer for the pet, for native wildlife and for children and adults. Pet owners should not abandon their pets. It's not only cruel, but it endangers our already fragile environment.

Chuck and Pat Wemstrom live in rural Mount Carroll. They can be reached at patandchuck@gmail.com.